


2 AM Laundromats

by Inches_Apart



Series: Young, Dumb, and Broke [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Bill's not the most helpful friend, College AU, Eddie has terrible luck, Everyone's character is inconsistent and poorly written, I struggle with writing the summary, M/M, Richie flirts a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 22:24:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13153269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inches_Apart/pseuds/Inches_Apart
Summary: Eddie hates being a poor college student, and his shit luck just makes life even worse. A trip to the laundromat and a bizarre encounter with a weird boy in the early hours of the morning certainly makes his life more interesting though.





	2 AM Laundromats

**Author's Note:**

> A Secret Santa fic written for https://are-you-reddie-for-it.tumblr.com/  
> They're super cool, I love their blog

Eddie hated being a poor college student. He wasn’t sure how much more annoying life could get than living in a cramped dorm on campus, spending half of his week in classes, spending the other half working on homework and projects for said classes, eating cheap, gross food, and, worst of all, having to do his laundry at the filthy yet reasonably priced laundromat downtown.

Given, life could certainly be a lot worse, but it also could be a lot better. Most of it did come back to Eddie’s shit luck and exhaustion making him make stupid decisions though.

For example, Eddie had forgotten to check the weather forecast Monday before class and had to trek back to his dorms across campus without an umbrella during a horrendous thunderstorm. Everything in his bag got soaked. He also forgot to set an alarm Tuesday and woke up fifteen minutes late for his lecture. On Wednesday, Eddie had gone out to get soup and tripped when he got back to his room and dumped it all over the clean pile of laundry folded up on the floor at the end of his bed. And that particular event, of course, led to him realizing Thursday night that he had no clean clothes left.

It was 1 AM and Eddie had just finished writing up his microbiology essay that was due at 9 o’clock sharp in the morning, and he was ready to change into his pajamas and pass out. When Eddie opened up his wardrobe door though, he can face to face with empty space where his clothes should have been. Throwing his head back in annoyance and letting out a heavy sigh, Eddie glanced over at his hamper full of dirty clothes with guilt and irritation. It was his fault he had to deal with this situation right now but he also couldn’t believe he had to deal with this situation  _right now_. He just wanted to go to bed, make it through tomorrow’s classes, and relax and recover as best he could over the weekend from this especially long, tiring, and terrible week.

But now, at 1 in the morning, Eddie was left without clothes because he slacked off slightly on doing laundry over the weekend and somehow managed to spill soup on the clothes he did clean. His only choices now were to do laundry or go through his hamper in hopes of finding clothes that were somewhat clean that he could wear again in the morning. While the latter did sound appealing at this late hour of the night, he detested the thought of having to wear dirty clothes, even if it were only for a day. He refused to lower himself to such barbaric standards.

Sighing, Eddie slipped his shoes on, grabbed his wallet, keys, and laundry bag, and headed out.

The night was chilly, and the cold air made Eddie’s lungs hurt whenever he inhaled too deeply. He was fortunate enough that some laundromat owner saw the potential in opening his business within walking distance of his college campus where hundreds of poor young adults didn’t own their own washers and dryers. Eddie was even luckier that it was open 24/7 because said laundromat owner also knew that college students were terrible and had awful schedules that made no sense, like having to do laundry at one in the morning.

Eddie was exhausted, and his feet dragged as he made his way down the familiarly illuminated street to the small shop where he always did his laundry. He was glad to see the store’s lights on as he approached, and that it was mostly empty inside besides some old man sitting in the corner near a dryer.

The bell gave a happy jingle as he entered, and Eddie quickly made his way over to the nearest washer. After digging through his wallet for a moment, he was able to find the right amount of quarters needed for the machine. He tucked his wallet back into the back pocket of his jeans and dumped his entire bag of laundry into the machine. He usually took the time to sort through everything and wash lights and darks separately to prevent any colors from bleeding and staining any of his clothes, but at the current moment, Eddie was beyond caring.

In fact, he was so far beyond caring, that he took off his jeans and threw them into the washer as well. He didn’t even care that he was standing in his boxer shorts in a laundromat at what was now one thirty in the morning. The only other person in the building had hardly even looked at Eddie since he walked in. He was sure the man didn’t care what Eddie was wearing at such an ungodly hour.

After inserting his quarters and starting the machine, Eddie went over and slouched into one of the hard plastic chairs that lined the edges of the store. Eddie didn’t bother bringing any detergent or softener with him so his clothes would be washed yet barely considered clean. He was way too exhausted to bother with such things though. His future self could get annoyed at him later for all he cared. Right now, he was tired, and the laundromat was rather warm and quiet besides the comforting rumbling sound that came from the two running machines in the store. Eddie felt his eyes drift shut, and he decided as long as he didn’t fall asleep, it would be okay to rest them for a moment. Just a moment though.

Eddie woke up what felt like only moments later with a sharp and sudden jolt.

He shook his head, feeling momentarily sharp and alert in comparison to how exhausted and slow he was only a little while ago. It took him a moment to remember what he was doing in this place that clearly wasn’t his room in the early hours of the morning. One glance at the dryer rumbling in front of him was enough for him to remember just where he was and what he was doing though.

He sighed in relief. He may have fallen asleep for a bit there, but everything appeared to be fine. The old man was still sitting in the corner of the store for some reason, he was safe, and his clothes were still right where he had left them in the dryer.

Eddie froze.

He didn’t leave his clothes in the dryer. He specifically remembers putting them in the washer before he sat down. Was it possible he swapped his laundry over in his sleep? No way. He only took a brief power nap and he has had no history of doing anything in his sleep, much less something as complex as moving his laundry from one machine to another and starting a dryer. He stared at the dryer in confusion, concern, and horror.

“Oh shit, you’re up.” A voice spoke up next to him, laughing.

Eddie turned and saw a boy about his age with glasses and wild black hair at the machine next to him. He was smiling a dumb smile at Eddie.

“When I got here your washer was beeping and you were passed out drunk so I just moved your stuff over to the dryer so they wouldn’t mildew in the machine.”

Eddie stared at him, all the alertness he just had was gone, replaced only with dazed confusion. Everything felt like a dream. It must have been a dream, Eddie decided. How else could that amused smile the boy was giving him be that bright?

It took him almost a solid minute to be able to do anything besides gape at the boy. At last, he swallowed and spoke up. “Thank you.” His voice was rough with sleep and cracked halfway through his first word. He cleared his throat, his face flushing slightly as he tried again, speaking clearly. “I mean, thank you.”

After saying that, he paused for a moment, thinking over what the boy had said to him.

“Wait a minute, you touched my laundry? And I’m not drunk.” He scoffed.

The boy snorted. “Sure you’re not drunk. Why else would you be passed out cold in a laundromat at two thirty in the morning with no pants on?”

“For your information, I’m a sleep-deprived college student, not a drunk. I just accidentally forgot to wash my laundry and happen to fall asleep big deal.” Eddie’s face burned red as he processed the second part of the kid’s question. “And I took my pants off to wash them.”

He stared at Eddie for a moment, his face unreadable, before shrugging. “I guess we’ve all been there, done that. Though it was definitely a bold choice to take your pants off and fall sleep with” He jerked his head over towards the old guy, lowering his voice. “That dude over there. He hasn’t moved, said, or done anything since I came in an hour ago and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he robbed and stabbed you in your sleep.”

Eddie frowned at the old man who only continued to stare at the running machine in front of him. “Eh, I doubt he’d hurt anyone, he looks rather- Wait. Did you say when you got here an hour ago?”

The kid quirked his eyebrows in confusion, adjusting his obnoxiously large pair of glasses on his face. “Yeah?”

“That’s impossible, I was only out for a few minutes.”

He laughed at Eddie. “Ha. You’ve been out much longer than that. Like I said, you were out cold. I tried waking you up when your machine went off, but you just slept through it all.”

Eddie’s face felt red again. “Oh.” He squeaked in a small voice.

The kid just chuckled again. Eddie, thinking back over the conversation they just shared as he stared at his feet, now also remembers how the kid said it was two thirty, which was about an hour later than when Eddie arrived at the laundromat. He felt stupid. What a fool he was making of himself.

Without being too obvious, Eddie snuck a glance over at the boy cheerfully sitting a few chairs away from him. He looked like a college student. Messy hair, bags under his eyes, wearing an outfit that looks like it was bought in a Goodwill for less than ten bucks. His shirt had a concert tee on with a band logo on it that was so faded Eddie couldn’t even tell what it was supposed to be anymore. All the city names and dates listed on the back of it weren’t even written in English. His shoes weren’t even real shoes, either, but a pair of slippers with a dog face and ears on them. Perhaps the most atrocious thing though was the ugly, faded pink flannel Hello Kitty pajama pants he was wearing. They were old, covered in holes and stains, and were too short for him, resting about five inches above his ankle. This kid looked like a train wreck, and Eddie found himself unable to stop staring.

And just as Eddie’s luck would have it, the boy noticed Eddie watching him.

“You like these puppies?” The boy asked with a smirk, tugging on the legs of his Hello Kitty pajama pants. “Wal-Mart. Five bucks, Talk about a deal!” He grinned at Eddie and Eddie had to try not to physically shield his eyes from his beaming smile and radiant, energetic personality. How was it possible anyone could be this happy and lively at nearly 3 AM in a cheap laundromat? Why would anyone want to be so happy and lively at nearly 3 AM in a cheap laundromat?

Eddie stared wide-eyed at the kid, hearing what he was saying but hardly comprehending it and understanding what exactly he was saying. He just decided to nod his head and turn back to face the tumbling dryer.

Eddie’s skin prickled and he realized after another quick glance that it was because the kid was now staring at him. Not knowing what to do in this situation, he just tried to ignore the other boy as best he could and hoped his ears weren’t turning too red from embarrassment because now Eddie really regrets taking his pants off to wash them.

The kid’s staring was interrupted by the annoying sound of a default ringtone coming from the boy’s pants pocket. He pulled out a small flip phone, staring at the screen. He glanced back at Eddie. “Excuse me but I gotta take this real quick.” He got up, walking outside as he dramatically flipped his phone open and began animatedly talking to whoever was on the line with him.

Eddie watched him through the front windows of the laundromat. He sure was using a lot of hand motions as he talked. Even if it was over the phone. Eddie could have also sworn he heard him say something in Spanish with the most atrocious accent imaginable. Eddie frowned. This kid was so weird.

As Eddie stared at the boy, one of the machines started beeping next to him and Eddie jumped up to pull the clothes out of the machine as quickly as possible so he could leave. Hardly looking at the damage he probably did when carelessly washing all of his clothes together, he dumped everything from the dryer into his laundry bag, with the exception of a pair of jeans that he quickly threw on. They felt slightly bigger than usual, but he paid little attention to this. Once everything had been transferred into the bag, he tied it shut, quickly taking off out of the shop.

The boy looked over at Eddie as he hurriedly walked out and started heading back to campus. He looked confused and opened his mouth to say something to him, but Eddie was gone before he could say anything, nearly sprinting away. He doesn’t know why he was moving so fast, but something about being around that boy made his stomach roll and his face flush and he wasn’t completely sure why. Sure, maybe he was cute, but he also seemed a bit obnoxious and most definitely not Eddie’s type.

Arriving back at his dorm building, Eddie rushed to his room. His head was reeling as he jammed his room key from his pocket into the lock and shoved the door open. Closing the door rather firmly behind him, Eddie threw the bag of clean laundry down on the floor and flopped onto his bed, exhausted.

It was practically 3 AM by this point, and Eddie had to be up and at class by nine. Not even bothering to change out of his clothes, Eddie snuggled up against his pillow, determined to pass out as quickly as possible to maximize the amount of sleep he’d get. Moments later as he drifted off into sleep, his mind flashed back to the bright smile of the boy at the laundromat, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile slightly to himself as he thought about how cute he was.

* * *

Eddie’s screeching phone woke him up so suddenly he jerked trying to sit up and nearly tumbled off of his bed.

Sighing, Eddie looked at the time on his phone screen with disappointment and exhaustion. He was beyond tired, and he couldn’t believe he had class in less than two hours. Shutting off his alarm and vowing to go to bed at a decent time at the end of the day, Eddie set about getting ready for his classes. His mind wasn’t in the mood for thinking about anything other than going back to bed, but it was still able to tell him that getting dressed was a good place to start his day off right. Grabbing the bag of laundry he threw down the previous night, Eddie dumped it out on the bed and his heart stopped.

These were not his clothes.

Initially, Eddie couldn’t figure out what was happening. He had no clue whose clothes these could possibly be. And then the previous night came back to him in pieces, helping him remember.

The energetic boy with the Hello Kitty pajamas doing his laundry next to Eddie. Him changing Eddie’s clothes over to a dryer (never having specified which dryer) after he had fallen asleep. Him stepping out to take a call as the timer on one of the dryers went off. The jeans Eddie slipped on being too big. His confused look he had when Eddie left because he probably knew Eddie’s laundry would finish drying after his. He never did tell him when he started the two loads. Eddie had only assumed he started his first.

Eddie’s face burned red as he realized how stupid he was.

He had now just stolen a complete strangers load of laundry and lost pretty much all of his own clothes in the process. Now, all Eddie wanted to do was crawl back into bed and never wake up again.

And as appealing as the idea was, he, unfortunately, still had things he needed to do. After all, he didn’t stay up late last night working on his microbiology essay to just not turn it in on time.

Awkwardly, Eddie shifted through some of the shirts he had taken last night, looking for something he could borrow for the day. He would try to think of a way to deal with his whole clothing situation later. For now, he had bigger issues to deal with.

Finding a black shirt with a yellow smiley face looking thing on it that looked innocuous enough for him to wear, Eddie swapped around the shirts he was wearing. Besides a few pairs of shorts, there weren’t any other pairs of pants so Eddie was stuck wearing the jeans he fell asleep in. They were a bit baggy, but nothing he couldn’t live with for a few hours. After deciding he had everything he needed, he shoved all the clothes back into the bag.

He had fallen asleep in his shoes, so he didn’t have to worry about them as he gathered everything he needed for his class before heading out. His morning routine for 9 AM class days involved getting coffee before class, so Eddie made his way over to the University Center.

The coffee sold at the shop inside the building wasn’t very good, but Eddie also happened to know that his best friend was working his early morning shift there on Fridays, which made the place worth going to on a regular basis.

Bill looked up and smiled at Eddie as he made his way over to the small coffee place. After looking over Eddie’s appearance though, his eyebrows furrowed slightly with mild concern as he awkwardly laughed at his friend. “Jesus, Eddie, you look like shit.”

“Thanks, Bill, I feel like it.” Eddie sighed, leaning heavily against the counter as Bill made him the usual cup of black coffee he orders.

“I don’t doubt it,” Bill said, handing over a hot cup to Eddie. “What happened? And since when do you like Nirvana?”

“What? Nirvana? I don’t like Nirvana, I’ve never even heard them.”

Bill gestured to Eddie’s shirt. “You’re wearing one of their tees though.”

Eddie felt his face turn slightly pink. “It’s uh… It’s not actually… mine.” Eddie finished in a rushed whisper, quickly taking a sip of coffee as he hoped Bill wouldn’t realize what he said.

As luck would have it, Eddie was not fortuitous enough to have that happen.

“Oh my god, Eddie!” Bill laughed, gently hitting him on the shoulder. “Who’s the lucky guy? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

Eddie groaned, covering his face with his open hand in embarrassment. “He’s not… he’s not my boyfriend, Bill, I just have his shirt.”

“Ohhh,” Bill nodded in understanding, smirking. “Eddie, you dog.” He winked good-naturedly.

If Eddie’s face got any hotter than it was at the current moment, it was going to burst into flames and burn down the entire University Center. “No, I just… stole his laundry by accident.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Bill’s grin just kept on getting bigger. “You stole someone’s laundry?”

“It was an accident!”

“How could you steal someone’s laundry by accident?” Bill was laughing, having an absolute field day with the whole situation.

“I don’t know! I guess I just wasn’t paying attention.” Eddie sighed, defeated. “And now I’m stuck with some complete stranger’s clothes for god knows how long. Maybe even forever!”

“Whoa there, Eds, calm down.” Bill gently set his hand on Eddie’s shoulder to comfort him. “I’m sure he realized what happened and is trying to figure out some way to resolve the situation too.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so. Anyways, there’s not much I can do about this now, I have class in less than a half hour. I need to get going. Here,” Eddie stuck his hand in his back pocket, reaching for his wallet.

Eddie’s week just couldn’t get worse.

“Oh, mother fucker!” He all but shouted, finding his back pocket empty, void of the wallet usual kept there. It only took a second for him to remember a very sleepy Eddie shoving said wallet into the pants pocket of his own pair of jeans before taking his pants off and throwing them into the washing machine before passing out.

Bill looked at him, alarmed. “What? What happened?”

“I left my wallet in a pair of pants that I washed last night. It’s gone with all the rest of my clothes. Everything in there probably got wrecked too from going through the wash.”

Bill looked at him in disbelief and slight amusement. He obviously knew that losing your wallet was terrible, but the number of things that could go wrong for Eddie in one week was comically high. Eddie supposed if he didn’t have to deal with this situation, he’d have also found it funny. Unfortunately, he did have to deal with it and he felt like crying in all-out frustration.

Bill noticed this, demeanor quickly changing to caring, concerned, and determined to help and support. He walked around the coffee store’s counter to give Eddie a hug. “Hey, don’t worry about the coffee, Eds, I’ll cover it. You head to class, and when we’re both done with school for the day, we’ll meet up and make a plan to track down this guy. He’s probably looking for you too, and who knows. Maybe he even goes to school here.” He gave a sniffling and angry Eddie a reassuring smile. “Just try to get through your class, and then we’ll figure something out, okay? Promise.”

Eddie nodded his head. “Okay. Promise.” He wiped his face, making sure there weren’t any tears on it. “Thanks, Bill.”

“Anytime. Now get on out of here.” Bill shooed him away, towards the exit of the University Center in the direction Eddie would want to go to get to the lab for microbiology.

Eddie headed out, trying not to think about all his missing belongings, the too big stolen clothes he was wearing, and the radiant boy who he’d have to try and track down later.

* * *

In what had to be the most surprising turn of luck of the century, Eddie didn’t even have to go out looking for the kid from the laundromat.

After a grueling microbiology lecture that Eddie had to struggle to stay awake through, even with coffee to keep him up, he was now making his way back to his dorm room to try and take a nap. He only had one class on Fridays because Eddie was determined to make it an easy day when arranging his school schedule. This meant more classes Monday through Thursday but left him with more weekend recovery time.

Bill, however, had a class just after noon, which left Eddie with a few hours to kill before he had to meet up with his friend to figure out just what to do. He was sure he could have come up with a plan for this situation on his own, but he was panicking too much at the current moment to do much of anything productive. Bill was smart and a calming presence, so Eddie knew it was in his best interest to just wait for him.

When Eddie turned down the dorm hallway in the direction of his room though, it was like God himself had come to apologize for the week of hell Eddie suffered through.

Sitting in front of his door, right next to a basket full of clothes, was the boy with the curly black hair and obnoxious glasses he had seen at the laundromat the previous night.

Eddie stared at him in disbelief. Surely, this must have been a dream. He pinched his arm. The boy was still sitting there, playing some type of game on the DS he held in his hands, completely oblivious to Eddie’s staring. He also was wearing his own pair of jeans and another band shirt that definitely wasn’t Eddie’s, which was a relief. He was way bigger than Eddie was, and it would have been a disaster if he had to wear his clothes like Eddie had to with his.

It wasn’t until Eddie was standing almost directly in front of him did he finally glance up at him. His tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth from concentrating on his game and his eyes had a certain glint to them that he couldn’t help but think of as cute.

After seeing Eddie, the boy quickly jumped to his feet. “It’s about time you showed up, Edward, do you know how long I’ve been sitting here? Let me answer that: too long. Now you better have a damn good reason for keeping me waiting this long. And your apology better be sincere and poignant too.” He huff, crossing his arms in mock scorn like an angered parent.

Eddie, once again, found himself feeling confused and flustered by the boy’s presence. “W- what?”

“You may have stuttered just there, but I most certainly did not. Do not make me repeat myself, mister, because if I have to there will be hell to pay.”

Eddie stared at him in disbelief. His mouth was turned downwards and his eyebrows were furrowed, but there was a lighthearted glint of mischief in his eyes as he focused his stare on Eddie. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, undoubtedly looking like a fish as he stared at the other boy, unsure of what to do with this situation.

“How do you know my name?” Was all Eddie was able to say.

The boy’s face relaxed back into its normal, happy look. He laughed, rather obnoxiously, in Eddie’s face, and Eddie tried not to scowl at him. He was a lot more annoying than he remembered.

The boy pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Eddie who fumbled to catch it. It was his wallet. The leather it was made of cracked and falling apart from going through the washer and dryer. After a quick look through, it looked like everything was still there.

“Since you were stupid enough to leave all of your clothes at the laundromat, I decided to be a good samaritan and return them to you. Luckily for me and unluckily for you, you left your wallet in the pocket of your jeans. A quick look at your student ID gave me your name and dorm building. After asking around a bit here, I was able to track down your room number. Some rather ingenious detective work on my part, if I do say so myself.” The boy smugly gave himself a pat on his own shoulder.

Eddie’s ears were pink and his face was flushing. “I’m not stupid, it was an accident.”

“A stupid accident.”

Eddie resisted the urge to growl in frustration. Before he could get another word in, the boy’s eyes traveled down from his face, taking in what Eddie was wearing before howling with laughter.

“Oh my god,” He wheezed, “are those my clothes? They look huge on you! I knew you were small, but I guess I didn’t realize how small you were last night!”

Eddie’s face went from pink to scarlet in a matter of second. “I’m not small! I’m average!” He tried to defend himself but wound up only making the other kid laugh harder at him. “It’s not my fault you’re a fucking giant.”

“Oh please,” The boy wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, mouth still bent into a smile. “I’m only like six foot four. You, on the other hand, are like five foot three. Are you sure you’re nineteen like your ID says?”

Eddie felt like he was bristling. “I’m five foot six and three quarters, for your information!”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he was hoping to get from the other boy, but pity was definitely not it. “Oh, honey,” He cooed, “that’s below average. And you’re so desperate to be taller you had to add in the ‘three quarters’ bit, aww.”

“Can you stop treating me like a fucking child cause I’m not six.”

“You sure look like you’re six.”

Eddie sighed, unable to believe he had actually just set the other boy up like that. “Look, can I just have my clothes back?”

“Are you sure you want your clothes back? I must admit you look rather cute in mine.” He winked at Eddie whose face could not physically get any redder than it already was.

“Your clothes are way too fucking big, I don’t want them.” Eddie snapped, defensively. “And don’t call me cute.”

“Aww, but Edward, you are cute, don’t you see?”

“Gross, don’t say ‘Edward’ like that. No one calls me that anyway.”

“Do you have a better name I could call you by? Mine, perhaps?” Eddie furiously ignored the wink he gave him.

“I go by Eddie.”

“Eddie! That’s adorable!”

“It’s not adorable, you asshole, stop that.”

“You’re like a kitten: small, cute, and feisty.” Another wink.

“Oh my god, stop.” Eddie brought a hand up to his temple which was beginning to throb with an oncoming headache. “Not that I care at this point, but I might as well know your name too.”

The boy pretended to swoon. “Spoken like a true romantic asking for my hand in marriage.” Eddie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “My name’s Richie. Richie Tozier. But I’d also like to call myself yours.”

Eddie wasn’t sure how much more flirting he could tolerate from this guy. Luckily though, Richie’s phone buzzed in his pocket. After a quick glance at it, he clicked his tongue in disappointment. “Well, as much fun as this has been, I have to bounce. Since I have returned your clothes it is your duty to do the same.”

“Oh. Right.” Eddie grabbed his key and unlocked his door. He felt relieved that the conversation was over, but also slightly let down that Richie was leaving. He wasn’t sure why because the boy was annoying and got on every last one of Eddie’s nerves in a way no amount of good-looking could justify, but he almost enjoyed being around him in a weird way. After he had his clothes back, he’d probably move on and he and Eddie would never speak again. He grabbed the bag of laundry, handing it over to the other boy who followed him into his room.

Richie set the basket full of Eddie’s clothes down on his bed, before slinging the bag over his shoulder. He looked around Eddie’s room, nodding his head. “Not a bad room. The design is simple and tidy. Look forward to spending more time here.” He winked yet again.

“Oh please. What reason do you possibly have to be inside my room at any point in the future?” Eddie was hoping to shut down his flirting by indicating there was no way the two of them hooking up would ever happen, but he realized too late he had just inadvertently set him up again for another joke.

Richie didn’t jump instantly in with a joke though. “Well, for starters, I’m leaving my laundry basket with you and taking your laundry bag. Obviously, we need to give these back to each other at some point, don’t we?”

Eddie stared at him. He wanted to mention the fact that he could dump out the basket of his clothes onto his bed and Richie could dump his bag of stuff into the basket and the two could go on their own merry ways. He picked up on what he was indirectly trying to say, and for some reason found himself going along with it. 

“You’re right, of course.”

“Also, you’re still wearing my clothes. And as much as I’d enjoy seeing you take them off in front of me, preferably slowly and in a scandalous way, I could also just pick them up later when you’re wearing your own clothes again.”

Eddie looked away, shyly. “Yeah, you can pick them up with your basket later.” This had to be by far the lamest excuse to see each other again ever conceived.

“Lastly, your room is a much nicer room to hook up in than mine.” He smirked and Eddie hit his arm.

“What makes you think we’d hook up?” Eddie meant to sound annoyed but he doubts it came out sounding that way.

“You have yet to shoot me down, so I’m sure that means you’re at least interested slightly.”

Eddie was flustered once again. He hadn’t directly shot down anything he said. Perhaps that was intentional. “I suppose you’re right.”  He said quietly before quickly changing the subject before he had to say anything else on the matter. “Didn’t you say you had some place to be?”

Richie smiled. It was genuine like it was last night and not flirtatious like it had just been. He looked really happy, and that made Eddie’s heart happy too. “Yeah, I do. I’ll see you around though, Eddie.”

“I guess I’ll see you around too, Richie.”

The boy waved at him, shutting the door behind him as he left. Eddie waited a second before grinning to himself. Looks like they’d be seeing each other again after all.

Eddie looked over at the basket of clothes on his bed, noticing a slip of paper sticking out on top. He grabbed it, rolling his eyes as he read over the ‘call me - richie xoxo’ scribbled on it in sloppy handwriting with a phone number printed underneath it. Eddie was beginning to feel like maybe this week wasn’t actually half that bad.

As he pulled out a shirt to hang up though, he noticed how the few white tees he had turned pink from the one red polo shirt he owned. Okay, maybe his week wasn’t the best.

But Richie sure made it a hell of a lot better.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to message me at https://the-barrens-are-ours.tumblr.com/ if you have any questions or requests. Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated


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